The chain locker in Britannia’s bow was totally inadequate for the 250ft (76m)of 3/8-inch chain I considered to be a bare minimum for my 22-tonne boat. Every time we weighed…
Yachting Monthly
Coppercoat Brian Black Memorial Award 2025: How to win £4,000 in cash prizes
Yachting Monthly’s marine environmental journalism award is being launched with the support of Coppercoat, with cash prizes worth £3,000 and £1,000-worth of new camera equipment up for grabs. The Brian…
A charter in British waters: ‘Only time would tell whether a week’s charter in the UK would be the end of our future family sailing plans, or the start’
The first evening on board our charter in British waters was just like coming home, it felt like we had never been away from life on board and was so…
Zhik Spirit of Adventure: ‘We sailed our yacht through France to volunteer at the Olympics’
Autumn 2021 and we’d only just recently bought Heureuse – a sound and comfortable Moody 346, in need of a little love and a few mod cons. She was safely…
What to wear for sailing during winter
There is something really quite special about finding yourself out on the water and having most of it to yourself. Being the solitary boat in an anchorage or being able…
How to use a sextant for navigation
Before using the sextant you must note the index error. All sextants have an index error, especially plastic instruments which have to be checked regularly. When you have achieved an…
‘I spent hours in the water in hurricane conditions’
When we saw the race briefing it was a little bit fuzzy,’ John Quinn told me, recalling events that had happened over three decades earlier, before the start of the…
‘They are all in the memory bank to savour during the winter months at home’ – Lu Heikell
There is a meme that appears on my social media with a Kermit the Frog puppet looking wistfully out of a window into a wintry scene. The caption usually reads…
Sailing in the Caribbean: ‘Turtles grazed on seagrass meadows as we snorkelled around them’
The first night on an unfamiliar boat can be a bit restless. You listen to the creaks and groans of the boat, the waves lapping onto the hull, the temperature…
How to moor your yacht (and how not to)
Sailing itself is not that difficult, with a few basic techniques and rules to keep you and your boat safe, whether you’re on a 50-footer or a dinghy. Since Covid…